The Director General of ten of Europe’s largest public broadcasters have spoken against plans to cut the budget of Denmark’s public broadcaster, DR.
The Director General of the BBC, NPO, SVT and NRK are among ten figures to have signed an open letter, criticising plans to cut the budget of the Danish national broadcaster, DR by up to 25%. In the letter the Director General’s write that;
The choice that Danish politicians must make in relation to public service broadcasting can be seen in many other European countries: either they cut budgets and increase the risk of political control; or securing long-term funding and creating greater and more effective safeguards for the independence and stability of public service broadcasting.
The letter comes after discussions in about major tax reform in Denmark, have lead to the Danish People’s Party to call for a cut of up to 25% in the budget of DR. According to Danish media, the Government is trying to limit cuts to the public broadcasters budget to 12.5%.
The letter highlights the importance of public broadcasting, with public broadcasters found to publish more news content than commercial media. With public broadcasting found to aid the political process, with public broadcasting making the public more aware of politics and their involvement.
Source: Sveriges Radio
